FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 11, 2014

CONTACT: Peter Van Delft
(617) 704-6682

SHERIFF TOMPKINS JOINS GOVERNOR PATRICK ON HIS VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY

Sheriff Tompkins (center) with (from l to r) Sheila Gayden, SCSD Employee Alan Spencer, Bicente Davila, Phyllis Tartt-Monk, Jodie Smith, Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral and Mayelan Baez.

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins recently joined Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on a tour of the New England Center for Arts and Technology in Boston. The tour, which was led by the school’s Executive Director Richard Ward, allowed Governor Patrick to speak about the expansion of job training opportunities in high–demand fields. The tour also served as an introduction to the school for the other public leaders in attendance, including former Suffolk County Sheriff and current Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral.

The New England Center for Arts and Technology is a career–directed educational non–profit serving resource–limited adults and youth in Boston. The school offers targeted job training for adults and arts programs for youth to prepare both to obtain career–ladder jobs in expanding and emerging employment sectors. Their programs provide paths to economic stability and the securing of promising futures for students, their families and the community.

While learning more about the school and the programs it offers, Sheriff Tompkins spoke about the potential it has to help inmates reentering society.

“I hope to do more work with the [New England Center for Arts and Technology] in the future and introduce more people from my facilities to these programs, particularly the culinary arts program,” said Sheriff Tompkins. “They’re not just offering educational skills here; they’re providing an opportunity for independence and teaching people how to create their own opportunities. That’s necessary for a person reentering society from incarceration. Opportunities like these are necessary in helping people to stay out of jail upon release. It was a pleasure accompanying Governor Patrick on this tour, and I look forward to being a part of the positive changes that arise from the school’s formation.”

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